Man faces charges for running fake funeral home

A Milwaukee man is facing multiple charges after an investigation alleged he was running a fraudulent funeral home in order to collect money from Wisconsin Medicaid.

According to a release from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Douglas L. Patton has been charged with counts of medicaid fraud, theft by fraud, theft, forgery as a party to the crime, operating as a funeral director without a funeral director in charge.

According to the release, Patton submitted a fraudulent application to collect funding from Wisconsin Funeral and Cemetery Aids Program (WFCAP). WFCAP normally helps Medicaid recipients with funeral and burial expenses.

The release said Patton forged the signature of next-of-kin whom he claimed signed the application on behalf of the deceased that agreed to his services as a funeral director.

He applied and was paid $1,500 for the false claim.

According to the release, the criminal complaint alleges Patton falsely claimed to have performed funeral services and sold burial items that were deemed as fraudulent claims after an investigation. Patton received over $2,000 for that claim.

The case is being investigated and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control and Elder Abuse Unit of the DOJ.

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